Busiest 4-lane highways

[tolbs17]

US-64/264 (future I-87) between Wendell and Zebulon. Around 60,000 AADT

I-40 between the I-85 split and US-501. Around 70,000 AADT (Widening to 6 lanes is already underway)

I-40 near Hickory, NC around 70,000 AADT.

I-485 in southeastern Charlotte. around 75,000 AADT.

If I-95 around Florence SC was never widened then it would qualify on this list.

VA-168 in Chesapeake. Has around 60,000 AADT.

Same with I-64 in the southern part. Has around 80,000 AADT.

I-664 too. 75,000 AADT.

[SkyPesos]

Isn't this topic pretty much the same as the 4 lane freeways that needs to be 6 laned thread, as both involves the busiest 4 lane freeways?

Regardless, some off my mind:

-  I-81 at some point probably qualifies, solely from the truck traffic

- I-40 Little Rock to Nashville

- I-70 Kansas City to St Louis

- All 4 lane parts of I-65 in Indiana

- Remaining 4 lane section of I-75 in Ohio

- Remaining 4 lane section of I-65 north of Nashville in TN.

[SEWIGuy]

tolbs, I have a suggestion for you.  If you would like to start a Carolina-centric topic daily, there is a Southeast regional board that would likely get you more traffic.

[tolbs17]

Isn't this topic pretty much the same as the 4 lane freeways that needs to be 6 laned thread, as both involves the busiest 4 lane freeways?

Regardless, some off my mind:

-  I-81 at some point probably qualifies, solely from the truck traffic

- I-40 Little Rock to Nashville

- I-70 Kansas City to St Louis

- All 4 lane parts of I-65 in Indiana

- Remaining 4 lane section of I-75 in Ohio

- Remaining 4 lane section of I-65 north of Nashville in TN.

Yeah but I'm talking about just busy 4 lane highways in general. they may or may not get widened.

[tolbs17]

tolbs, I have a suggestion for you.  If you would like to start a Carolina-centric topic daily, there is a Southeast regional board that would likely get you more traffic.

I thought those boards are for like realistic stuff and news/updates.

[skluth]

Isn't this topic pretty much the same as the 4 lane freeways that needs to be 6 laned thread?

Not really. A highway could just be steadily busy without being overwhelmed during peak periods.

[tolbs17]

Isn't this topic pretty much the same as the 4 lane freeways that needs to be 6 laned thread?

Not really. A highway could just be steadily busy without being overwhelmed during peak periods.

I-440 in West Raleigh takes the cake with 85,000 AADT. Improvements should have been done in the 90s, but I have a feeling it was delayed numerous times. Although there is active construction going on there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5QS90BLV8o&ab_channel=TransportCams

[JayhawkCO]

From a quick glance from this thread, Maine's I-295 has an AADT of 83,830 at one point when it's only 4 lanes.

[US 89]

I-440 in West Raleigh takes the cake with 85,000 AADT.

You and your cake taking... which of course is always about something in NC. Should probably have mentioned it in your original post if it's that noteworthy.

Also I bet I-5 in Portland is higher. Oregon doesn't make their traffic data easy to find, so someone more familiar with those websites can dig up the numbers if they want.

[JayhawkCO]

I-440 in West Raleigh takes the cake with 85,000 AADT.

You and your cake taking... which of course is always about something in NC. Should probably have mentioned it in your original post if it's that noteworthy.

Also I bet I-5 in Portland is higher. Oregon doesn't make their traffic data easy to find, so someone more familiar with those websites can dig up the numbers if they want.

Where is I-5 only 4 lanes through Portland?  I can look up the AADT if you direct me to a spot.  Every place I've spot checked on GSV is 3+.

Edit, found it between I-84 and I-405.  From the other thread it looks like 120,000.  The I-76 on the Schuylkill Expressway is 140,000 which as of the last thread, is the winner.

[SkyPesos]

You and your cake taking... which of course is always about something in NC. Should probably have mentioned it in your original post if it's that noteworthy.

Probably have something to do with post farming

[Rick Powell]

I-80 in Joliet IL 79,700 just east of Richards St. (soon to be 6-laned)
I-57 in Matteson IL 74,000 just north of Vollmer Road
IL 394 in Lansing/Thornton IL 71,100 just south of the 80/94/294 junction

I think there were sections of I-55 between I-80 and IL 53 that were higher than 80k prior to the 6-laning in the late 2000s, but IDOT's online AADT history doesn't go back that far.

[cockroachking]

Hutchinson River Parkway between Exit 5 and Exit 6A has an AADT of 117547, as of 2019 according to NYSDOT. Also, a section of I-278/BQE in Brooklyn Heights has been restriped from 6 to 4 lanes. Before the restriping, the AADT was 144932.

[tolbs17]

You and your cake taking... which of course is always about something in NC. Should probably have mentioned it in your original post if it's that noteworthy.

Probably have something to do with post farming

I forgot about it man.

[webny99]

Some links to previous threads (all my own, not entirely by coincidence :):

Busiest 4-Lane Roads (basically a duplicate, so possible thread merge?)
Busiest 2-Lane Roads
Rural Freeways that need Six Lanes (relevant because - you guessed it - anything that needs six lanes probably has four lanes currently)

[webny99]

Isn't this topic pretty much the same as the 4 lane freeways that needs to be 6 laned thread?

Not really. A highway could just be steadily busy without being overwhelmed during peak periods.

But even so, we do have an actual "Busiest 4-Lane Roads" thread already... see the link I just posted.

I-440 in West Raleigh takes the cake with 85,000 AADT.

You and your cake taking... which of course is always about something in NC. Should probably have mentioned it in your original post if it's that noteworthy.

Also I bet I-5 in Portland is higher. Oregon doesn't make their traffic data easy to find, so someone more familiar with those websites can dig up the numbers if they want.

Probably some higher in PA as well, which is (in)famous for four-lane freeways in urban areas. I'll work on finding some volumes, but my guess is parts of PA 28, I-76, I-376, and I-476 have at least 85k or more.

[jmacswimmer]

Some of the heavy hitters from Maryland (Note: I used MDOT SHA's 2019 traffic volumes prior to COVID-related traffic reductions):

-MD 295/B-W Parkway south of MD 197 at 117,322
-US 15 thru Frederick at 112,101
-MD 100 east of I-95 & US 1 at 99,610
-I-97's southernmost stretch at 98,731
-I-270 north of the drop from 6 to 4 lanes at 89,211
-I-70 west of US 29 at 88,391
-US 50 east of MD 201 & MD 295/B-W Parkway at 88,000
-I-70 over South Mountain at 82,292

I-895 thru the Harbor Tunnel probably ranks somewhere in the middle of that list, but it seems traffic data within Baltimore City might be located elsewhere (as MDOT SHA, despite being headquartered in Baltimore, does not have any jurisdiction there).

[Bruce]

A few from Washington:

I-5 between Burlington and Mount Vernon - 81,000 AADT (2019)
SR 520 over Portage Bay in Seattle - 86,000 AADT (2019)
SR 520 Floating Bridge - 74,000 AADT (2019)

Also I bet I-5 in Portland is higher. Oregon doesn't make their traffic data easy to find, so someone more familiar with those websites can dig up the numbers if they want.

ODOT is actually pretty good relative to the Northwestern DOTs, with a dedicated page for all of their traffic count documents. Just requires knowledge of their internal numbering system.

From the 2018 TVT, it looks the four-lane section of I-5 through Albina had an AADT of 118,400 crossing over NE Holladay Street (a bit north of the I-84 interchange).

[michravera]

Isn't this topic pretty much the same as the 4 lane freeways that needs to be 6 laned thread?

Not really. A highway could just be steadily busy without being overwhelmed during peak periods.

TWO lanes can handle 86400 vehicles per day at a 2-second following distance, if they are steady and consistently spaced. Queuing theory, however, says that that is not what you will probably get. Throughput drops quite abruptly when you get over about 40% theoretical capacity. There are plenty of roads that might as well not even exist 23 hours per day. They get basically all of their traffic in 30 minutes in each direction. I'm thinking of roads that lead to a heavy commute or sports or entertainment event destination.

[Crown Victoria]

Isn't this topic pretty much the same as the 4 lane freeways that needs to be 6 laned thread?

Not really. A highway could just be steadily busy without being overwhelmed during peak periods.

But even so, we do have an actual "Busiest 4-Lane Roads" thread already... see the link I just posted.

I-440 in West Raleigh takes the cake with 85,000 AADT.

You and your cake taking... which of course is always about something in NC. Should probably have mentioned it in your original post if it's that noteworthy.

Also I bet I-5 in Portland is higher. Oregon doesn't make their traffic data easy to find, so someone more familiar with those websites can dig up the numbers if they want.

Probably some higher in PA as well, which is (in)famous for four-lane freeways in urban areas. I'll work on finding some volumes, but my guess is parts of PA 28, I-76, I-376, and I-476 have at least 85k or more.

I found 130,000-140,000 for the Schuylkill Expressway around Manayunk and the Conshohocken Curve.

For the Blue Route, 48,000-78,000 in Delaware County. Seems low!

For the Parkway East, around 88,000-98,000. Parkway West tops out just over 100,000.

For PA 28, topping out around 78,000.

US 22 in Lehigh County runs around 88,000 between PA 309 and PA 378, and gets over 100,000 crossing the Lehigh River.

I-81 between Paxtonia/Linglestown and I-78 is generally around 63,000 (more suburban/rural, but still very busy for a 4-lane Interstate).

[Flint1979]

US-23 between Flint and Brighton carries between 40,000-50,000 VPD and is only four lanes.
Between Brighton and Ann Arbor it goes up to almost 60,000 VPD with the flex lanes between Whitmore Lake and M-14's western split.
On the part where M-14 runs concurrent with US-23 there is over 75,000 VPD with six lanes.
On the east side of Ann Arbor between M-14 and I-94 it has over 60,000 VPD and again is four lanes.
Between Ann Arbor and Toledo it drops down to about 28,000 VPD south of Dundee and has between 30,000-46,000 VPD between I-94 and Dundee which is only four lanes.

So there are portions of US-23 in Michigan that have four lanes and traffic volumes of around 60,000 VPD. It's mind boggling why MDOT hasn't done anything to upgrade this highway other than put in flex lanes for 9 miles but oh they are going to be expanding it to I-96 as if that is actually going to solve any traffic problems. I-75 has lower traffic volumes between Saginaw and Flint and has eight lanes so this really makes no sense.

[Chris19001]

I found 130,000-140,000 for the Schuylkill Expressway around Manayunk and the Conshohocken Curve.

For the Blue Route, 48,000-78,000 in Delaware County. Seems low!
For the Parkway East, around 88,000-98,000. Parkway West tops out just over 100,000.
For PA 28, topping out around 78,000.
US 22 in Lehigh County runs around 88,000 between PA 309 and PA 378, and gets over 100,000 crossing the Lehigh River.
I-81 between Paxtonia/Linglestown and I-78 is generally around 63,000 (more suburban/rural, but still very busy for a 4-lane Interstate).

I agree on your numbers.  136k on the 2 lane Schuylkill in Montgomery county and a whopping 218k on the three lane segment between Montgomery Ave and Girard Ave (I know that's not the topic, but urgh!)
https://gis.penndot.gov/BPR_PDF_FILES/MAPS/Traffic/Traffic_Volume/County_Maps/Philadelphia_tv.pdf

[Crown Victoria]

I found 130,000-140,000 for the Schuylkill Expressway around Manayunk and the Conshohocken Curve.

For the Blue Route, 48,000-78,000 in Delaware County. Seems low!
For the Parkway East, around 88,000-98,000. Parkway West tops out just over 100,000.
For PA 28, topping out around 78,000.
US 22 in Lehigh County runs around 88,000 between PA 309 and PA 378, and gets over 100,000 crossing the Lehigh River.
I-81 between Paxtonia/Linglestown and I-78 is generally around 63,000 (more suburban/rural, but still very busy for a 4-lane Interstate).

I agree on your numbers.  136k on the 2 lane Schuylkill in Montgomery county and a whopping 218k on the three lane segment between Montgomery Ave and Girard Ave (I know that's not the topic, but urgh!)
https://gis.penndot.gov/BPR_PDF_FILES/MAPS/Traffic/Traffic_Volume/County_Maps/Philadelphia_tv.pdf

Some more:

US 422 comes in between 67,000-79,000 between King of Prussia and Royersford, with a surge to 113,000 across the Schuylkill River (the bridge does have an auxiliary lane each way between PA 23 and PA 363).

US 422 also hits 84,000 on the West Shore Bypass between Penn Street/Avenue and US 222/PA 12.

For I-83, 110,000 on its 4-lane section between I-283/US 322 and Harrisburg proper. The recently widened section between Union Deposit Rd. and I-81 comes in at 95,000 (it's now 6 lanes, but traffic was most likely that heavy when it was still 4 lanes).

I-676 is briefly 4 through lanes east of Broad Street (PA 611), at 151,000! (There is an auxiliary lane westbound connecting the ramp from Vine Street and the Ben Franklin Bridge to Broad Street, but underneath Broad Street there are only 4 lanes of traffic total.)

[Bruce]

A few numbers from Seattle's 2019 Traffic Report (which includes some WSDOT-maintained streets):

SR 513 at Montlake Bridge - 61,500 AADT
SR 99/Aurora Avenue near North 45th Street - 58,000 AADT*
Ballard Bridge - 49,500 AADT
SR 522 near SR 523 - 49,300 AADT*
MLK Jr Way S near Orcas Street - 44,700 AADT

Listings with an asterisk (*) indicate streets that have peak-only bus lanes

[mgk920]

What is currently the section of I-41 between Appleton and De Pere, WI with the highest AADT?  It is programed by WisDOT for upgrading from 4 lanes to 6 lanes in the mid to late 2020s.

Mike